Method and Apparatus for Optimizing Neighbor Relation

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for optimizing a neighbor relation. The method for optimizing a neighbor relation in the present invention includes: determining, by a centralized device, to-be-processed neighboring cells according to a preset rule, generating an optimization suggestion according to the determined to-be-processed neighboring cells, and delivering the optimization suggestion to a radio network controller RNC, so that the RNC optimizes the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to the optimization suggestion. According to the embodiments of the present invention, automatic optimization of the neighbor relation is implemented.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/177,880, filed on Jun. 9, 2016, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2013/089247, filed on Dec. 12, 2013.All of the afore-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporatedby reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the communications field,and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for optimizing aneighbor relation.

BACKGROUND

An automatic neighbor relation (ANR) is one of features of a selforganizing network (SON) that draws the greatest concern from theindustry. Because of complexity of network development and emergence ofa network featuring multiple standards, multiple levels, and multiplestation types, a quantity of neighbor relations and switching types aredramatically increasing. As a result, it is very difficult to manage andmaintain a neighboring cell. Therefore, operators are pinning wishes onthe ANR function, hoping that neighboring cell management andoptimization are automatically completed by using a system.

However, at present, the neighbor relation is optimized mainly in anoffline and semi-automatic optimization manner: First, data is exportedfrom a network element such as a radio network controller (RNC) by meansof manual intervention; then, the data is imported into a networkplanning and optimization tool for analyzing the neighbor relation; andfinally, the network planning and optimization tool provides a result ofanalyzing the neighbor relation, and a neighboring cell configuration ismanually modified according to the result of analyzing the neighborrelation. Therefore, a problem exists in this manner that a neighborrelation cannot be automatically optimized because a data source cannotbe automatically acquired, but data needs to be manually imported intothe network planning and optimization tool.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatusfor optimizing a neighbor relation to resolve a problem in the prior artthat the neighbor relation cannot be automatically optimized.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for optimizing a neighbor relation, including:determining, by a centralized device, to-be-processed neighboring cellsaccording to a preset rule; generating, by the centralized device, anoptimization suggestion according to the determined to-be-processedneighboring cells; and delivering, by the centralized device, theoptimization suggestion to a radio network controller RNC, so that theRNC optimizes the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to theoptimization suggestion.

In a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, beforethe determining, by a centralized device, to-be-processed neighboringcells according to a preset rule, the method further includes:acquiring, by the centralized device from the RNC, a measurement reportobtained based on measurement performed on a to-be-measured cell by userequipment UE within a coverage area of a serving cell, where the servingcell is a UMTS cell, and the to-be-measured cell includes anintra-frequency cell of the serving cell, or an inter-frequency cell ora GSM cell; determining, by the centralized device, whether a firstcount value reaches a preset missing neighboring cell detection period;and if it is determined that the first count value reaches the missingneighboring cell detection period, acquiring, by the centralized device,a first missing neighboring cell list from the RNC, where the firstmissing neighboring cell list is a list including cells that areselected from the to-be-measured cell by the RNC according to themeasurement report and that are not in a neighboring cell list of theserving cell.

According to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the determining, bya centralized device, to-be-processed neighboring cells according to apreset rule includes: determining, by the centralized device, distancesbetween each cell in the first missing neighboring cell list and theserving cell; using, by the centralized device, cells whose distancesbetween each cell in the first missing neighboring cell list and theserving cell are less than or equal to a preset missing distancethreshold as to-be-sorted cells, sorting all the to-be-sorted cellsaccording to the distances between the to-be-sorted cells and theserving cell to acquire a sorted missing neighboring cell list, andusing the sorted missing neighboring cell list as a second missingneighboring cell list; and acquiring, by the centralized device, a thirdmissing neighboring cell list after removal of a cell in a blacklistfrom the second missing neighboring cell list, and determining theto-be-processed neighboring cells from the third missing neighboringcell list according to a preset maximum quantity of neighboring cells ofthe serving cell.

According to the first aspect and either of the first to the secondpossible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a third possibleimplementation manner, the generating, by the centralized device, anoptimization suggestion according to the determined to-be-processedneighboring cells includes: acquiring, by the centralized device, cellidentification information of the to-be-processed neighboring cells andconfiguration parameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cells; andgenerating, by the centralized device, an optimization suggestion formissing neighboring cells according to the cell identificationinformation of the to-be-processed neighboring cells and theconfiguration parameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cells, wherethe optimization suggestion for missing neighboring cells is used toinstruct the RNC to add the to-be-processed neighboring cells to theneighboring cell list.

According to the third possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, after thedelivering, by the centralized device, the optimization suggestion to aradio network controller RNC, the method further includes: adding, bythe centralized device, one to a second count value, where the secondcount value is used to describe a quantity of times of delivering theoptimization suggestion for missing neighboring cells to the RNC, anddetermining whether a second count value to which one is added is lessthan a preset quantity of missing neighboring cell detection times. Ifit is determined that the second count value to which one is added isless than the quantity of missing neighboring cell detection times,repeatedly performing the step of acquiring, by the centralized devicefrom the RNC, a measurement report obtained based on measurementperformed on a to-be-measured cell by UE within a coverage area of aserving cell.

According to the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementationmanner, before the determining, by a centralized device, to-be-processedneighboring cells according to a preset rule, the method furtherincludes: acquiring, by the centralized device from the RNC,handover-related performance data of user equipment UE within a coveragearea of a serving cell, where the serving cell is a UMTS cell; anddetermining, by the centralized device, whether a third count valuereaches a preset redundant neighboring cell detection period. If it isdetermined that the third count value reaches the redundant neighboringcell detection period, acquiring, by the centralized device, a firstredundant neighboring cell list of the serving cell according to theperformance data.

According to the fifth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, the determining, by acentralized device, to-be-processed neighboring cells according to apreset rule includes: removing, by the centralized device according to acell in a whitelist preset by a user, the cell in the whitelist from thefirst redundant neighboring cell list; and determining, by thecentralized device, cells in a new neighboring cell list acquired afterremoval of the cell in the whitelist as the to-be-processed neighboringcells, where each of the to-be-processed neighboring cells includes anintra-frequency cell of the serving cell, or an inter-frequency cell ora GSM cell.

According to the fifth or the sixth possible implementation manner ofthe first aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner, thegenerating, by the centralized device, an optimization suggestionaccording to the determined to-be-processed neighboring cells includes:generating, by the centralized device, an optimization suggestion forredundant neighboring cells according to the determined to-be-processedneighboring cells, where the optimization suggestion for redundantneighboring cells is used to instruct the RNC to delete theto-be-processed neighboring cells from the neighboring cell list.

According to the seventh possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner, after thedelivering, by the centralized device, the optimization suggestion to aradio network controller RNC, the method further includes: adding, bythe centralized device, one to a fourth count value, where the fourthcount value is used to describe a quantity of times of delivering theoptimization suggestion for redundant neighboring cells to the RNC, anddetermining whether a fourth count value to which one is added is lessthan a preset quantity of redundant neighboring cell detection times. Ifit is determined that the fourth count value to which one is added isless than the quantity of redundant neighboring cell detection times,repeatedly performing the step of acquiring, by the centralized devicefrom the RNC, handover-related performance data of user equipment UEwithin a coverage area of a serving cell.

According to the first aspect, in a ninth possible implementationmanner, the determining, by a centralized device, to-be-processedneighboring cells according to a preset rule includes: determining, bythe centralized device, whether a fifth count value reaches a presetneighboring cell priority optimization period. If it is determined thatthe fifth count value reaches the neighboring cell priority optimizationperiod, sorting, by the centralized device, neighboring cells of a sametype according to a quantity of handover success times of handovers toeach cell of the neighboring cells of the same type, and acquiring atleast one neighboring cell queue after sorting, where the neighboringcells of the same type are UMTS intra-frequency cells, UMTSinter-frequency cells, or GSM cells. The method further includesselecting, by the centralized device, K_(i) neighboring cells from eachneighboring cell queue of the at least one neighboring cell queueaccording to a preset proportion threshold a and according to a sortingsequence as the to-be-processed neighboring cells, where K_(i)=a×M_(i),K_(i) indicates a quantity of neighboring cells selected from an i^(th)neighboring cell queue, M_(i) indicates a quantity of neighboring cellsincluded in the i^(th) neighboring cell queue, and i is an integergreater than or equal to 1, and less than or equal to 3.

According to the ninth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner, the generating, bythe centralized device, an optimization suggestion according to thedetermined to-be-processed neighboring cells includes generating, by thecentralized device, an optimization suggestion according to a handoversuccess rate of handovers to a neighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboringcells.

According to the tenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner, the generating,by the centralized device, an optimization suggestion according to ahandover success rate of handovers to a neighboring cell of the K_(i)neighboring cells includes: if a handover success rate of handovers to afirst neighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboring cells is greater than orequal to a preset high threshold for a handover success rate,generating, by the centralized device, an optimization suggestion ofincreasing a priority of the first neighboring cell by one level. If ahandover success rate of handovers to a second neighboring cell of theK_(i) neighboring cells is less than the high threshold for a handoversuccess rate, and greater than a low threshold for a handover successrate, generating, by the centralized device, an optimization suggestionof remaining a priority of the second neighboring cell unchanged. If ahandover success rate of handovers to a third neighboring cell of theK_(i) neighboring cells is less than or equal to the low threshold for ahandover success rate, generating, by the centralized device, anoptimization suggestion of lowering a priority of the third neighboringcell by one level.

According to the eleventh possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner, after thedelivering, by the centralized device, the optimization suggestion to aradio network controller RNC, the method further includes: adding, bythe centralized device, one to a sixth count value, where the sixthcount value is used to describe a quantity of times of delivering theoptimization suggestion to the RNC, and determining whether a sixthcount value to which one is added is less than a preset quantity ofneighboring cell priority optimization times. If it is determined thatthe sixth count value to which one is added is less than the quantity ofneighboring cell priority optimization times, repeatedly performing thestep of determining, by the centralized device, whether a fifth countvalue reaches a preset neighboring cell priority optimization period.

According to the first aspect, in a thirteenth possible implementationmanner, before the determining, by a centralized device, to-be-processedneighboring cells according to a preset rule, the method furtherincludes: determining, by the centralized device, whether a seventhcount value reaches a preset neighbor relation optimization detectionperiod; and if it is determined that the seventh count value reaches theneighbor relation optimization detection period, determining, by thecentralized device, an eNodeB that includes an LTE cell and that iswithin a range of a circle with a center being a UMTS cell whoseneighbor relation needs to be optimized and with a radius being a presetdistance, or determining, by the centralized device, the eNodeB thatincludes the LTE cell and an eNodeB that includes a configured LTEneighboring cell of the UMTS cell whose neighbor relation needs to beoptimized.

According to the thirteenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation manner, the determining,by a centralized device, to-be-processed neighboring cells according toa preset rule includes: acquiring, by the centralized device, a firstpotential LTE neighboring cell of the UMTS cell whose neighbor relationneeds to be optimized and a measurement report of the first potentialLTE neighboring cell; acquiring, by the centralized device, a secondpotential LTE neighboring cell after LTE cells that cannot be added ordeleted are removed from the first potential LTE neighboring cell; andsorting, by the centralized device, cells of the second potential LTEneighboring cell according to a handover success rate, a quantity ofhandover request times, or a quantity of measurement reports of thesecond potential LTE neighboring cell, and determining, according to apreset maximum quantity of added neighboring cells, N cells that rankahead as the to-be-processed neighboring cells, where N is equal to adifference between the maximum quantity of added neighboring cells and aquantity of LTE cells that cannot be deleted. The first potential LTEneighboring cell is acquired by the centralized device according tomeasurement that is performed by the eNodeB that includes the LTE cellon the UMTS cell in a neighbor relation list of the LTE cell.Alternatively, the first potential LTE neighboring cell is acquired bythe centralized device according to measurement that is performed by theeNodeB that includes the LTE cell on the UMTS cell in a neighborrelation list of the LTE cell and measurement that is performed by theeNodeB that includes the LTE neighboring cell on the UMTS cell in aneighbor relation list of the LTE neighboring cell.

According to the thirteenth or the fourteenth possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, in a fifteenth possible implementationmanner, the generating, by the centralized device, an optimizationsuggestion according to the determined to-be-processed neighboring cellsincludes: acquiring, by the centralized device, cell identificationinformation of the to-be-processed neighboring cells and configurationparameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cells; and generating, bythe centralized device, an optimization suggestion of optimizing aneighbor relation according to the cell identification information ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells and the configuration parametersof the to-be-processed neighboring cells, where the optimizationsuggestion of optimizing the neighbor relation is used to instruct theRNC to add the to-be-processed neighboring cells to a neighboring celllist of the UMTS cell whose neighbor relation needs to be optimized.

According to the fifteenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a sixteenth possible implementation manner, after thedelivering, by the centralized device, the optimization suggestion to aradio network controller RNC, the method further includes: adding, bythe centralized device, one to an eighth count value, where the eighthcount value is used to describe a quantity of times of delivering theoptimization suggestion of optimizing the neighbor relation to the RNC,and determining whether an eighth count value to which one is added isless than a preset quantity of neighbor relation optimization executiontimes. If it is determined that the eighth count value to which one isadded is less than the quantity of neighbor relation optimizationexecution times, repeatedly performing the step of determining, by thecentralized device, whether a seventh count value reaches a presetneighbor relation optimization detection period.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides an apparatus for optimizing a neighbor relation is provided,including: a determining module, configured to determine to-be-processedneighboring cells according to a preset rule; an optimization suggestiongenerating module, configured to generate an optimization suggestionaccording to the determined to-be-processed neighboring cells; and anoptimization suggestion delivering module, configured to deliver theoptimization suggestion to a radio network controller RNC, so that theRNC optimizes the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to theoptimization suggestion.

In a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, theapparatus further includes: before determining the to-be-processedneighboring cells according to the preset rule, the determining moduleis further configured to acquire, from the radio network controller RNC,a measurement report obtained based on measurement performed on ato-be-measured cell by user equipment UE within a coverage area of aserving cell, where the serving cell is a UMTS cell, and theto-be-measured cell includes an intra-frequency cell of the servingcell, or an inter-frequency cell or a GSM cell; determine whether afirst count value reaches a preset missing neighboring cell detectionperiod; and if it is determined that the first count value reaches themissing neighboring cell detection period, acquire a first missingneighboring cell list from the RNC, where the first missing neighboringcell list is a list including cells that are selected from theto-be-measured cell by the RNC according to the measurement report andthat are not in a neighboring cell list of the serving cell.

According to the first possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the determiningmodule is specifically configured to determine distances between eachcell in the first missing neighboring cell list and the serving cell;use cells whose distances between each cell in the first missingneighboring cell list and the serving cell are less than or equal to apreset missing distance threshold as to-be-sorted cells, sort all theto-be-sorted cells according to distances between the to-be-sorted cellsand the serving cell to acquire a sorted missing neighboring cell list,and use the sorted missing neighboring cell list as a second missingneighboring cell list; and acquire a third missing neighboring cell listafter removal of a cell in a blacklist from the second missingneighboring cell list, and determine the to-be-processed neighboringcells from the third missing neighboring cell list according to a presetmaximum quantity of neighboring cells of the serving cell.

According to the second aspect and either of the first to the secondpossible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a thirdpossible implementation manner, the optimization suggestion generatingmodule is specifically configured to acquire cell identificationinformation of the to-be-processed neighboring cells and configurationparameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cells; and generate anoptimization suggestion for missing neighboring cells according to thecell identification information of the to-be-processed neighboring cellsand the configuration parameters of the to-be-processed neighboringcells, where the optimization suggestion for missing neighboring cellsis used to instruct the RNC to add the to-be-processed neighboring cellsto the neighboring cell list.

According to the third possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the determiningmodule is further configured to: after the optimization suggestion isdelivered to the radio network controller RNC, add one to a second countvalue, where the second count value is used to describe a quantity oftimes of delivering the optimization suggestion for missing neighboringcells to the RNC, and determine whether a second count value to whichone is added is less than a preset quantity of missing neighboring celldetection times; and if it is determined that the second count value towhich one is added is less than the quantity of missing neighboring celldetection times, repeatedly perform the step of acquiring, from the RNC,a measurement report obtained based on measurement performed on ato-be-measured cell by UE within a coverage area of a serving cell.

According to the second aspect, in a fifth possible implementationmanner, the determining module is further configured to: beforedetermining the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to thepreset rule, acquire, from the radio network controller RNC,handover-related performance data of user equipment UE within a coveragearea of a serving cell, where the serving cell is a UMTS cell; determinewhether a third count value reaches a preset redundant neighboring celldetection period; and if it is determined that the third count valuereaches the redundant neighboring cell detection period, acquire a firstredundant neighboring cell list of the serving cell according to theperformance data.

According to the fifth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, the determiningmodule is specifically configured to remove, according to a cell in awhitelist preset by a user, the cell in the whitelist from the firstredundant neighboring cell list; and determine cells in a newneighboring cell list acquired after removal of the cell in thewhitelist as the to-be-processed neighboring cells, where each of theto-be-processed neighboring cells includes an intra-frequency cell ofthe serving cell, or an inter-frequency cell or a GSM cell.

According to the fifth or the sixth possible implementation manner ofthe second aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner, theoptimization suggestion generating module is specifically configured togenerate an optimization suggestion for redundant neighboring cellsaccording to the determined to-be-processed neighboring cells, where theoptimization suggestion for redundant neighboring cells is used toinstruct the RNC to delete the to-be-processed neighboring cells fromthe neighboring cell list.

According to the seventh possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner, the determiningmodule is further configured to: after the optimization suggestion isdelivered to the radio network controller RNC, add one to a fourth countvalue, where the fourth count value is used to describe a quantity oftimes of delivering the optimization suggestion for redundantneighboring cells to the RNC, and determine whether a fourth count valueto which one is added is less than a preset quantity of redundantneighboring cell detection times; and if it is determined that thefourth count value to which one is added is less than the quantity ofredundant neighboring cell detection times, repeatedly perform the stepof acquiring, from the RNC, handover-related performance data of UEwithin a coverage area of a serving cell.

According to the second aspect, in a ninth possible implementationmanner, the determining module is specifically configured to: determinewhether a fifth count value reaches a preset neighboring cell priorityoptimization period; if it is determined that the fifth count valuereaches the neighboring cell priority optimization period, sortneighboring cells of a same type according to a quantity of handoversuccess times of handovers to each cell of the neighboring cells of thesame type, and acquire at least one neighboring cell queue aftersorting, where the neighboring cells of the same type are UMTSintra-frequency cells, UMTS inter-frequency cells, or GSM cells; andselect K_(i) neighboring cells from each neighboring cell queue of theat least one neighboring cell queue according to a preset proportionthreshold a and according to a sorting sequence as the to-be-processedneighboring cells, where K_(i)=a×M_(i), K_(i) indicates a quantity ofneighboring cells selected from an i^(th) neighboring cell queue, M_(i)indicates a quantity of neighboring cells included in the i^(th)neighboring cell queue, and i is an integer greater than or equal to 1,and less than or equal to 3.

According to the ninth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner, the optimizationsuggestion generating module is specifically configured to generate anoptimization suggestion according to a handover success rate ofhandovers to a neighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboring cells.

According to the tenth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner, the optimizationsuggestion generating module is specifically configured to: if ahandover success rate of handovers to a first neighboring cell of theK_(i) neighboring cells is greater than or equal to a preset highthreshold for a handover success rate, generate an optimizationsuggestion of increasing a priority of the first neighboring cell by onelevel; if a handover success rate of handovers to a second neighboringcell of the K_(i) neighboring cells is less than the high threshold fora handover success rate, and greater than a low threshold for a handoversuccess rate, generate an optimization suggestion of remaining apriority of the second neighboring cell unchanged; and if a handoversuccess rate of handovers to a third neighboring cell of the K_(i)neighboring cells is less than or equal to the low threshold for ahandover success rate, generate an optimization suggestion of lowering apriority of the third neighboring cell by one level.

According to the eleventh possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner, the determiningmodule is further configured to: after the optimization suggestion isdelivered to the radio network controller RNC, add one to a sixth countvalue, where the sixth count value is used to describe a quantity oftimes of delivering the optimization suggestion to the RNC, anddetermine whether a sixth count value to which one is added is less thana preset quantity of neighboring cell priority optimization times; andif it is determined that the sixth count value to which one is added isless than the quantity of neighboring cell priority optimization times,repeatedly perform the step of determining whether a fifth count valuereaches a preset neighboring cell priority optimization period.

According to the second aspect, in a thirteenth possible implementationmanner, the determining module is further configured to: beforedetermining the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to thepreset rule, determine whether a seventh count value reaches a presetneighbor relation optimization detection period; and if it is determinedthat the seventh count value reaches the neighbor relation optimizationdetection period, determine an eNodeB that includes an LTE cell and thatis within a range of a circle with a center being a UMTS cell whoseneighbor relation needs to be optimized and with a radius being a presetdistance, or determine the eNodeB that includes the LTE cell and aneNodeB that includes a configured LTE neighboring cell of the UMTS cellwhose neighbor relation needs to be optimized.

According to the thirteenth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation manner, the determiningmodule is specifically configured to: acquire a first potential LTEneighboring cell of the UMTS cell whose neighbor relation needs to beoptimized and a measurement report of the first potential LTEneighboring cell; acquire a second potential LTE neighboring cell afterLTE cells that cannot be added or deleted are removed from the firstpotential LTE neighboring cell; and sort cells of the second potentialLTE neighboring cell according to a handover success rate, a quantity ofhandover request times, or a quantity of measurement reports of thesecond potential LTE neighboring cell, and determine, according to apreset maximum quantity of added neighboring cells, N cells that rankahead as the to-be-processed neighboring cells, where N is equal to adifference between the maximum quantity of added neighboring cells and aquantity of LTE cells that cannot be deleted. The first potential LTEneighboring cell is acquired according to measurement that is performedby the eNodeB that includes the LTE cell on the UMTS cell in a neighborrelation list of the LTE cell. Alternatively, the first potential LTEneighboring cell is acquired according to measurement that is performedby the eNodeB that includes the LTE cell on the UMTS cell in a neighborrelation list of the LTE cell and measurement that is performed by theeNodeB that includes the LTE neighboring cell on the UMTS cell in aneighbor relation list of the LTE neighboring cell.

According to the thirteenth or the fourteenth possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, in a fifteenth possible implementationmanner, the optimization suggestion generating module is specificallyconfigured to acquire cell identification information of theto-be-processed neighboring cells and configuration parameters of theto-be-processed neighboring cells; and generate an optimizationsuggestion of optimizing a neighbor relation according to the cellidentification information of the to-be-processed neighboring cells andthe configuration parameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cells,where the optimization suggestion of optimizing the neighbor relation isused to instruct the RNC to add the to-be-processed neighboring cells toa neighboring cell list of the UMTS cell whose neighbor relation needsto be optimized.

According to the fifteenth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a sixteenth possible implementation manner, the determiningmodule is further configured to: after the optimization suggestion isdelivered to the radio network controller RNC, add one to an eighthcount value, where the eighth count value is used to describe a quantityof times of delivering the optimization suggestion of optimizing theneighbor relation to the RNC, and determine whether an eighth countvalue to which one is added is less than a preset quantity of neighborrelation optimization execution times; and if it is determined that theeighth count value to which one is added is less than the quantity ofneighbor relation optimization execution times, repeatedly perform thestep of determining whether a seventh count value reaches a presetneighbor relation optimization detection period.

According to the method and apparatus for optimizing a neighbor relationin the embodiments of the present invention, a centralized devicedetermines to-be-processed neighboring cells according to a preset rule,generates an optimization suggestion according to the determinedto-be-processed neighboring cells, and delivers the optimizationsuggestion to a radio network controller RNC, so that the RNC optimizesthe to-be-processed neighboring cells according to the optimizationsuggestion. As a result, a problem is resolved and automaticoptimization of the neighbor relation is implemented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention more clearly, the following briefly introduces theaccompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or theprior art. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the followingdescription show merely some embodiments of the present invention, andpersons of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawingsfrom these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for optimizing a neighbor relationaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are a flowchart of a method for optimizing aneighbor relation according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are a flowchart of a method for optimizing aneighbor relation according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for optimizing a neighbor relationaccording to Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are a flowchart of a method for optimizing aneighbor relation according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention;and

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus 600 foroptimizing a neighbor relation according to Embodiment 6 of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of theembodiments of the present invention clearer, the following clearlydescribes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodimentsof the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments are somebut not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All otherembodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art based onthe embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shallfall within the protection scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for optimizing a neighbor relationaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The method in thisembodiment applies to a case of automatically optimizing the neighborrelation. The method is performed by an apparatus for optimizing aneighbor relation, where the apparatus is generally implemented by usinghardware and/or software. The method in this embodiment includes thefollowing steps.

110. A centralized device determines to-be-processed neighboring cellsaccording to a preset rule.

120. The centralized device generates an optimization suggestionaccording to the determined to-be-processed neighboring cells.

At present, the neighbor relation is optimized by manually exportingdata from an RNC, where the exported data includes network performancemanagement data, configuration data, measurement report data, and thelike. Then the data is manually imported into a network planning andoptimization tool, and the network planning and optimization toolanalyzes the data and provides a result of the neighbor relation. Inthis method, a data source cannot be automatically acquired and dataneeds to be manually imported into the network planning and optimizationtool. Therefore, automatic optimization of the neighbor relation cannotbe implemented. However, in steps 110 and 120, the centralized devicecan determine the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to thepreset rule, generate the optimization suggestion according to thedetermined to-be-processed neighboring cells, where the optimizationsuggestion may be generated without a need of manually acquiring thedata source, and deliver the optimization suggestion to an RNC in step130. The RNC performs optimization processing on the to-be-processedneighboring cells according to the optimization suggestion.

130. The centralized device delivers the optimization suggestion to anRNC, so that the RNC optimizes the to-be-processed neighboring cellsaccording to the optimization suggestion.

Specifically, the centralized device determines the to-be-processedneighboring cells according to the preset rule, generates theoptimization suggestion according to the determined to-be-processedneighboring cells, and delivers the optimization suggestion to the RNC,so that the RNC optimizes the to-be-processed neighboring cellsaccording to the optimization suggestion.

According to the method for optimizing a neighbor relation provided inthis embodiment, a centralized device determines to-be-processedneighboring cells according to a preset rule, generates an optimizationsuggestion according to the determined to-be-processed neighboringcells, and delivers the optimization suggestion to an RNC, so that theRNC optimizes the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to theoptimization suggestion. As a result, automatic optimization of theneighbor relation is implemented.

On the basis of the foregoing Embodiment 1, optimization is furtherperformed in an embodiment. FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are a flowchart of amethod for optimizing a neighbor relation according to Embodiment 2 ofthe present invention. This embodiment describes a process foroptimizing a missing configuration of a neighboring cell within a UMTSsystem and between a UMTS system and a GSM system. Referring to FIG. 2Aand FIG. 2B, the method in this embodiment may include the followingsteps.

201. The centralized device acquires, from the radio network controller,a measurement report obtained based on measurement performed on ato-be-measured cell by user equipment within a coverage area of aserving cell, where the serving cell is a UMTS cell, and theto-be-measured cell includes an intra-frequency cell of the servingcell, or an inter-frequency cell or a GSM cell.

It should be noted that if the to-be-measured cell is theinter-frequency cell of the serving cell or the GSM cell, a radio accessnetwork needs to provide information about the to-be-measured cell touser equipment in a UMTS network, including a frequency channel numberand a scrambling code of the to-be-measured cell, so that the userequipment in the UMTS network performs measurement on theinter-frequency cell or the GSM cell. In addition, a range of thescrambling code of the inter-frequency cell or the GSM cell cannot beexcessively wide or excessively narrow. If the range of the scramblingcode of the inter-frequency cell or the GSM cell is set excessivelynarrow, a to-be-measured cell is prone to be missing. The missing cellcannot join optimization of a missing neighboring cell, that is, themissing cell cannot be automatically added as a neighboring cell. If therange of the scrambling code of the inter-frequency cell or the GSM cellis set excessively wide, a cell that cannot be added as a neighboringcell is measured, which causes a waste of the measurement.

202. The centralized device determines whether a first count valuereaches a preset missing neighboring cell detection period.

203. If it is determined that the first count value reaches the missingneighboring cell detection period, the centralized device acquires afirst missing neighboring cell list from the RNC, where the firstmissing neighboring cell list is a list including cells that areselected from the to-be-measured cell by the RNC according to themeasurement report and that are not in a neighboring cell list of theserving cell.

204. The centralized device determines distances between each cell inthe first missing neighboring cell list and the serving cell.

205. The centralized device uses cells whose distances between each cellin the first missing neighboring cell list and the serving cell are lessthan or equal to a preset missing distance threshold as to-be-sortedcells, sorts all the to-be-sorted cells according to distances betweenthe to-be-sorted cells and the serving cell to acquire a sorted missingneighboring cell list, and uses the sorted missing neighboring cell listas a second missing neighboring cell list.

206. The centralized device acquires a third missing neighboring celllist after removal of a cell in a blacklist from the second missingneighboring cell list, and determines the to-be-processed neighboringcells from the third missing neighboring cell list according to a presetmaximum quantity of neighboring cells of the serving cell.

The preset maximum quantity of neighboring cells of the serving cell isset by a user. The preset maximum quantity of neighboring cells cannotexceed a quantity of neighboring cells of the UMTS cell, that is, amaximum of 63 intra-frequency neighboring cells, 64 inter-frequencyneighboring cells, and 64 inter-RAT neighboring cells can be separatelyconfigured for each UMTS cell. In other words, a preset maximum quantityof intra-frequency neighboring cells cannot exceed 63, a preset maximumquantity of inter-frequency neighboring cells cannot exceed 64, and apreset maximum quantity of inter-RAT neighboring cells cannot exceed 64.In a current optimization process, if a quantity of each type ofneighboring cells of the serving cell reaches an upper limit ofneighboring cells, the current optimization automatically stops.

207. The centralized device acquires cell identification information ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells and configuration parameters ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells.

208. The centralized device generates an optimization suggestion formissing neighboring cells according to the cell identificationinformation of the to-be-processed neighboring cells and theconfiguration parameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cells, wherethe optimization suggestion for missing neighboring cells is used toinstruct the RNC to add the to-be-processed neighboring cells to theneighboring cell list.

209. The centralized device delivers the optimization suggestion to theRNC, so that the RNC optimizes the to-be-processed neighboring cellsaccording to the optimization suggestion.

210. The centralized device adds one to a second count value, where thesecond count value is used to describe a quantity of times of deliveringthe optimization suggestion for missing neighboring cells to the RNC.

211. The centralized device determines whether a second count value towhich one is added is less than a preset quantity of missing neighboringcell detection times. If yes, step 201 is performed; otherwise, step 212is performed.

212. Stop performing missing neighboring cell optimization.

According to the method for optimizing a neighbor relation provided inthis embodiment, a centralized device acquires, from an RNC, ameasurement report obtained based on measurement performed on ato-be-measured cell by user equipment within a coverage area of aserving cell, and determines whether a first count value reaches apreset missing neighboring cell detection period. If it is determinedthat the first count value reaches the missing neighboring celldetection period, the centralized device acquires a first missingneighboring cell list from the RNC, determines distances between eachcell in the first missing neighboring cell list and the serving cell,uses cells whose distances between each cell in the first missingneighboring cell list and the serving cell are less than or equal to apreset missing distance threshold as to-be-sorted cells, sorts all theto-be-sorted cells according to distances between the to-be-sorted celland the serving cell to acquire a sorted missing neighboring cell list,and uses the sorted missing neighboring cell list as a second missingneighboring cell list. The centralized device acquires a third missingneighboring cell list after removal of a cell in a blacklist from thesecond missing neighboring cell list, and determines to-be-processedneighboring cells from the third missing neighboring cell list accordingto a preset maximum quantity of neighboring cells of the serving cell,acquires cell identification information of the to-be-processedneighboring cells and configuration parameters of the to-be-processedneighboring cells, generates an optimization suggestion for missingneighboring cells according to the cell identification information ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells and the configuration parametersof the to-be-processed neighboring cells, where the optimizationsuggestion for missing neighboring cells is used to instruct the RNC toadd the to-be-processed neighboring cells to the neighboring cell list,and delivers the optimization suggestion to the RNC, so that the RNCoptimizes the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to theoptimization suggestion, and adds one to a second count value, where thesecond count value is used to describe a quantity of times of deliveringthe optimization suggestion for missing neighboring cells to the RNC.The centralized device determines whether a second count value to whichone is added is less than a preset quantity of missing neighboring celldetection times, and if yes, continues to perform missing neighboringcell optimization. As a result, a missing neighboring cell of a UMTScell is added to a neighboring cell list of the cell, implementingautomatic optimization of the neighbor relation.

On the basis of the foregoing Embodiment 1, optimization is furtherperformed in an embodiment. FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are a flowchart of amethod for optimizing a neighbor relation according to Embodiment 3 ofthe present invention. This embodiment describes a process foroptimizing a redundant neighboring cell within a UMTS system and betweena UMTS system and a GSM system. Referring to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, themethod in this embodiment may include the following steps.

301. The centralized device acquires, from the radio network controllerRNC, handover-related performance data of user equipment UE within acoverage area of a serving cell, where the serving cell is a UMTS cell.

302. The centralized device determines whether a third count valuereaches a preset redundant neighboring cell detection period.

303. If it is determined that the third count value reaches theredundant neighboring cell detection period, the centralized deviceacquires a first redundant neighboring cell list of the serving cellaccording to the performance data.

304. The centralized device removes, according to a cell in a whitelistpreset by a user, the cell in the whitelist from the first redundantneighboring cell list.

305. The centralized device determines cells in a new neighboring celllist acquired after removal of the cell in the whitelist asto-be-processed neighboring cells, where each of the to-be-processedneighboring cells includes an intra-frequency cell of the serving cell,or an inter-frequency cell or a GSM cell.

306. The centralized device generates an optimization suggestion forredundant neighboring cells according to the determined to-be-processedneighboring cells, where the optimization suggestion for redundantneighboring cells is used to instruct the RNC to delete theto-be-processed neighboring cells from the neighboring cell list.

307. The centralized device delivers the optimization suggestion to theRNC.

308. The centralized device adds one to a fourth count value, where thefourth count value is used to describe a quantity of times of deliveringthe optimization suggestion for redundant neighboring cells to the RNC.

309. The centralized device determines whether a fourth count value towhich one is added is less than a preset quantity of redundantneighboring cell detection times. If yes, step 301 is performed;otherwise, step 310 is performed.

310. Stop performing redundant neighboring cell optimization.

According to the method for optimizing a neighbor relation provided inthis embodiment, a centralized device acquires, from a radio networkcontroller RNC, handover-related performance data of user equipment UEwithin a coverage area of a serving cell, where the serving cell is aUMTS cell, and determines whether a third count value reaches a presetredundant neighboring cell detection period. If it is determined thatthe third count value reaches the redundant neighboring cell detectionperiod, the centralized device acquires a first redundant neighboringcell list of the serving cell according to the performance data,removes, according to a cell in a whitelist preset by a user, the cellin the whitelist from the first redundant neighboring cell list, anddetermines cells in a new neighboring cell list acquired after removalof the cell in the whitelist as to-be-processed neighboring cells, whereeach of the to-be-processed neighboring cells includes anintra-frequency cell of the serving cell, or an inter-frequency cell ora GSM cell. The centralized device generates an optimization suggestionfor redundant neighboring cells according to the determinedto-be-processed neighboring cells, where the optimization suggestion forredundant neighboring cells is used to instruct the RNC to delete theto-be-processed neighboring cells from the neighboring cell list. Thecentralized device delivers the optimization suggestion to the radionetwork controller RNC. The centralized device adds one to a fourthcount value, where the fourth count value is used to describe a quantityof times of delivering the optimization suggestion for redundantneighboring cells to the RNC. The centralized device determines whethera fourth count value to which one is added is less than a presetquantity of redundant neighboring cell detection times, and if yes,continues to perform redundant neighboring cell optimization. As aresult, a redundant neighboring cell of the UMTS cell is deleted from aneighboring cell list of the cell, thereby automatically optimizing theneighbor relation.

On the basis of the foregoing Embodiment 1, optimization is furtherperformed in an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method foroptimizing a neighbor relation according to Embodiment 4 of the presentinvention. This embodiment describes a process for optimizing aneighboring cell priority within a UMTS system and between a UMTS systemand a GSM system. Referring to FIG. 4, the method in this embodiment mayinclude the following steps.

401. The centralized device determines whether a fifth count valuereaches a preset neighboring cell priority optimization period.

402. If it is determined that the fifth count value reaches theneighboring cell priority optimization period, the centralized devicesorts neighboring cells of a same type according to a quantity ofhandover success times of handovers to each cell of the neighboringcells of the same type, and acquires at least one neighboring cell queueafter sorting, where the neighboring cells of the same type are UMTSintra-frequency cells, UMTS inter-frequency cells, or GSM cells.

403. The centralized device selects K_(i) neighboring cells from eachneighboring cell queue of the at least one neighboring cell queueaccording to a preset proportion threshold a and according to a sortingsequence as the to-be-processed neighboring cells.

K_(i)=a×M_(i), K_(i) indicates a quantity of neighboring cells selectedfrom an i^(th) neighboring cell queue, M_(i) indicates a quantity ofneighboring cells included in the i^(th) neighboring cell queue, and iis an integer greater than or equal to 1, and less than or equal to 3.

For example, a proportion threshold is set to 80%, cells that rank aheadand that take up 80% in a total quantity of sorted cells of the sametype are selected as the to-be-processed neighboring cells according toa sorting sequence.

404. The centralized device generates an optimization suggestionaccording to a handover success rate of handovers to a neighboring cellof the K_(i) neighboring cells.

For example, that the centralized device generates an optimizationsuggestion according to a handover success rate of handovers to aneighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboring cells may be implemented inthe following manners:

If a handover success rate of handovers to a first neighboring cell ofthe K_(i) neighboring cells is greater than or equal to a preset highthreshold for a handover success rate, the centralized device generatesan optimization suggestion of increasing a priority of the firstneighboring cell by one level. If a handover success rate of handoversto a second neighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboring cells is less thanthe high threshold for a handover success rate, and greater than a lowthreshold for a handover success rate, the centralized device generatesan optimization suggestion of remaining a priority of the secondneighboring cell unchanged. If a handover success rate of handovers to athird neighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboring cells is less than orequal to the low threshold for a handover success rate, the centralizeddevice generates an optimization suggestion of lowering a priority ofthe third neighboring cell by one level.

It should be noted that in steps 403 and 404, if a cell in the sortedneighboring cells of the same type ranks among the first 80% of thetotal quantity of the sorted cells of the same type, it indicates that aquantity of times of handovers to the cell is relatively large.Therefore, a handover success rate parameter of the cell is typical, anda neighboring cell priority of the cell may be adjusted according to thehandover success rate parameter. If a cell ranks among the last 20% ofthe total quantity of the sorted cells of the same type, it indicatesthat a quantity of handover times is excessively small. Therefore, ahandover success rate is untypical, and a neighboring cell priority isnot adjusted.

405. The centralized device delivers the optimization suggestion to theRNC.

406. The centralized device adds one to a sixth count value, where thesixth count value is used to describe a quantity of times of deliveringthe optimization suggestion to the RNC.

407. The centralized device determines whether a sixth count value towhich one is added is less than a preset quantity of neighboring cellpriority optimization times. If yes, step 401 is performed; otherwise,step 408 is performed.

408. Stop performing neighboring cell priority optimization.

According to the method for optimizing a neighbor relation provided inthis embodiment, a centralized device determines whether a fifth countvalue reaches a preset neighboring cell priority optimization period. Ifit is determined that the fifth count value reaches the neighboring cellpriority optimization period, the centralized device sorts neighboringcells of a same type according to a quantity of handover success timesof handovers to each cell of the neighboring cells of the same type,acquires at least one neighboring cell queue after sorting, selectsK_(i) neighboring cells from each neighboring cell queue of the at leastone neighboring cell queue according to a preset proportion threshold aand according to a sorting sequence as the to-be-processed neighboringcells, and generates an optimization suggestion according to a handoversuccess rate of handovers to a neighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboringcells. The centralized device delivers the optimization suggestion to anRNC. The centralized device adds one to a sixth count value, where thesixth count value is used to describe a quantity of times of deliveringthe optimization suggestion to the RNC, and determines whether a sixthcount value to which one is added is less than a preset quantity ofneighboring cell priority optimization times, so that a neighboring cellpriority of a neighboring cell of a UMTS cell is automatically adjusted.If yes, the centralized device continues to perform a process foroptimizing the neighboring cell priority, thereby automaticallyoptimizing the neighbor relation.

On the basis of the foregoing Embodiment 1, optimization is furtherperformed in an embodiment. FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are a flowchart of amethod for optimizing a neighbor relation according to Embodiment 5 ofthe present invention. This embodiment describes a process foroptimizing a neighbor relation within a UMTS system and between a UMTSsystem and an LTE system. Referring to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the methodin this embodiment may include the following steps.

501. The centralized device determines whether a seventh count valuereaches a preset neighbor relation optimization detection period.

502. If it is determined that the seventh count value reaches theneighbor relation optimization detection period, the centralized devicedetermines an eNodeB that includes an LTE cell and that is within arange of a circle with a center being a UMTS cell whose neighborrelation needs to be optimized and with a radius being a presetdistance, or the centralized device determines the eNodeB that includesthe LTE cell and an eNodeB that includes a configured LTE neighboringcell of the UMTS cell whose neighbor relation needs to be optimized.

503. The centralized device acquires a first potential LTE neighboringcell of the UMTS cell whose neighbor relation needs to be optimized andmeasurement report of the first potential LTE neighboring cell.

It should be noted that the first potential LTE neighboring cell isacquired by the centralized device according to measurement that isperformed by the eNodeB that includes the LTE cell on the UMTS cell in aneighbor relation list of the LTE cell, or the first potential LTEneighboring cell is acquired by the centralized device according tomeasurement that is performed by the eNodeB that includes the LTE cellon the UMTS cell in a neighbor relation list of the LTE cell andmeasurement that is performed by the eNodeB that includes the LTEneighboring cell on the UMTS cell in a neighbor relation list of the LTEneighboring cell.

504. The centralized device acquires a second potential LTE neighboringcell after LTE cells that cannot be added or deleted are removed fromthe first potential LTE neighboring cell.

505. The centralized device sorts cells of the second potential LTEneighboring cell according to a handover success rate, a quantity ofhandover request times, or a quantity of measurement reports of thesecond potential LTE neighboring cell, and determines, according to apreset maximum quantity of added neighboring cells, N cells that rankahead as the to-be-processed neighboring cells, where N is equal to adifference between the maximum quantity of added neighboring cells and aquantity of LTE cells that cannot be deleted.

506. The centralized device acquires cell identification information ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells and configuration parameters ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells.

507. The centralized device generates an optimization suggestion ofoptimizing a neighbor relation according to the cell identificationinformation of the to-be-processed neighboring cells and theconfiguration parameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cells, wherethe optimization suggestion of optimizing the neighbor relation is usedto instruct the RNC to add the to-be-processed neighboring cells to aneighboring cell list of the UMTS cell whose neighbor relation needs tobe optimized.

508. The centralized device delivers the optimization suggestion to theRNC.

The centralized device adds one to an eighth count value, where theeighth count value is used to describe a quantity of times of deliveringthe optimization suggestion of optimizing the neighbor relation to theRNC.

509. The centralized device determines whether an eighth count value towhich one is added is less than a preset quantity of neighbor relationoptimization execution times. If yes, step 501 is performed; otherwise,step 510 is performed.

510. Stop performing neighbor relation optimization.

According to the method for optimizing a neighbor relation provided inthis embodiment, a centralized device acquires a second potential LTEneighboring cell after LTE cells that cannot be added or deleted areremoved from the first potential LTE neighboring cell, sorts cells ofthe second potential LTE neighboring cell according to a handoversuccess rate, a quantity of handover request times, or a quantity ofmeasurement reports of the second potential LTE neighboring cell,determines, according to a preset maximum quantity of added neighboringcells, N cells that rank ahead as the to-be-processed neighboring cells,acquires cell identification information of the to-be-processedneighboring cells and configuration parameters of the to-be-processedneighboring cells, generates an optimization suggestion of optimizing aneighbor relation according to the cell identification information ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells and the configuration parametersof the to-be-processed neighboring cells, where the optimizationsuggestion of optimizing the neighbor relation is used to instruct anRNC to add the to-be-processed neighboring cells to a neighboring celllist of a UMTS cell whose neighbor relation needs to be optimized,delivers the optimization suggestion to the RNC, adds one to an eighthcount value, and determines whether an eighth count value to which oneis added is less than a preset quantity of neighbor relationoptimization execution times and if yes, continues to perform neighborrelation optimization. As a result, an LTE missing neighboring cell ofthe UMTS cell is added to a neighboring cell list of the cell or aredundant neighboring cell of the cell is deleted from a neighboringcell list of the cell, thereby implementing automatic optimization ofthe neighbor relation.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus 600 foroptimizing a neighbor relation according to Embodiment 6 of the presentinvention. The apparatus in this embodiment applies to a case ofautomatically optimizing the neighbor relation. The apparatus isgenerally implemented by using hardware and/or software. Referring toFIG. 6, the apparatus includes the following modules: a determiningmodule 610, an optimization suggestion generating module 620, and anoptimization suggestion delivering module 630.

The determining module 610 is configured to determine to-be-processedneighboring cells according to a preset rule; the optimizationsuggestion generating module 620 is configured to generate anoptimization suggestion according to the determined to-be-processedneighboring cells; and the optimization suggestion delivering module 630is configured to deliver the optimization suggestion to a radio networkcontroller RNC, so that the RNC optimizes the to-be-processedneighboring cells according to the optimization suggestion.

Further, before determining the to-be-processed neighboring cellsaccording to the preset rule, the determining module 610 is furtherconfigured to acquire, from the radio network controller RNC, ameasurement report obtained based on measurement performed on ato-be-measured cell by user equipment UE within a coverage area of aserving cell, where the serving cell is a UMTS cell, and theto-be-measured cell includes an intra-frequency cell of the servingcell, or an inter-frequency cell or a GSM cell; determine whether afirst count value reaches a preset missing neighboring cell detectionperiod; and if it is determined that the first count value reaches themissing neighboring cell detection period, acquire a first missingneighboring cell list from the RNC, where the first missing neighboringcell list is a list including cells that are selected from theto-be-measured cell by the RNC according to the measurement report andthat are not in a neighboring cell list of the serving cell.

Further, the determining module 610 is specifically configured todetermine distances between each cell in the first missing neighboringcell list and the serving cell; use cells whose distances between eachcell in the first missing neighboring cell list and the serving cell areless than or equal to a preset missing distance threshold as to-besorted cells, sort all the to-be sorted cells according to distancesbetween the to-be sorted cell and the serving cell to acquire a sortedmissing neighboring cell list, and use the sorted missing neighboringcell list as a second missing neighboring cell list; and acquire a thirdmissing neighboring cell list after removal of a cell in a blacklistfrom the second missing neighboring cell list, and determine theto-be-processed neighboring cells from the third missing neighboringcell list according to a preset maximum quantity of neighboring cells ofthe serving cell.

Further, the optimization suggestion generating module 620 isspecifically configured to acquire cell identification information ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells and configuration parameters ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells; and generate an optimizationsuggestion for missing neighboring cells according to the cellidentification information of the to-be-processed neighboring cells andthe configuration parameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cells,where the optimization suggestion for missing neighboring cells is usedto instruct the RNC to add the to-be-processed neighboring cells to theneighboring cell list.

Further, the determining module 610 is further configured to: after theoptimization suggestion is delivered to the radio network controllerRNC, add one to a second count value, where the second count value isused to describe a quantity of times of delivering the optimizationsuggestion for missing neighboring cells to the RNC, and determinewhether a second count value to which one is added is less than a presetquantity of missing neighboring cell detection times; and if it isdetermined that the second count value to which one is added is lessthan the quantity of missing neighboring cell detection times,repeatedly perform the step of acquiring, from the RNC, a measurementreport obtained based on measurement performed on a to-be-measured cellby UE within a coverage area of a serving cell.

Optionally, the determining module 610 is further configured to: beforedetermining the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to thepreset rule, acquire, from the radio network controller RNC,handover-related performance data of user equipment UE within a coveragearea of a serving cell, where the serving cell is a UMTS cell; determinewhether a third count value reaches a preset redundant neighboring celldetection period; and if it is determined that the third count valuereaches the redundant neighboring cell detection period, acquire a firstredundant neighboring cell list of the serving cell according to theperformance data.

Further, the determining module 610 is specifically configured toremove, according to a cell in a whitelist preset by a user, the cell inthe whitelist from the first redundant neighboring cell list; anddetermine cells in a new neighboring cell list acquired after removal ofthe cell in the whitelist as the to-be-processed neighboring cells,where each of the to-be-processed neighboring cells includes anintra-frequency cell of the serving cell, or an inter-frequency cell ora GSM cell.

Further, the optimization suggestion generating module 620 isspecifically configured to generate an optimization suggestion forredundant neighboring cells according to the determined to-be-processedneighboring cells, where the optimization suggestion for redundantneighboring cells is used to instruct the RNC to delete theto-be-processed neighboring cells from the neighboring cell list.

Further, the determining module 610 is further configured to: after theoptimization suggestion is delivered to the radio network controllerRNC, add one to a fourth count value, where the fourth count value isused to describe a quantity of times of delivering the optimizationsuggestion for redundant neighboring cells to the RNC, and determinewhether a fourth count value to which one is added is less than a presetquantity of redundant neighboring cell detection times; and if it isdetermined that the fourth count value to which one is added is lessthan the quantity of redundant neighboring cell detection times,repeatedly perform the step of acquiring, from the RNC, handover-relatedperformance data of UE within a coverage area of a serving cell.

Further, the determining module 610 is specifically configured to:determine whether a fifth count value reaches a preset neighboring cellpriority optimization period; if it is determined that the fifth countvalue reaches the neighboring cell priority optimization period, sortneighboring cells of a same type according to a quantity of handoversuccess times of handovers to each cell of the neighboring cells of thesame type, and acquire at least one neighboring cell queue aftersorting, where the neighboring cells of the same type are UMTSintra-frequency cells, UMTS inter-frequency cells, or GSM cells; andselect K_(i) neighboring cells from each neighboring cell queue of theat least one neighboring cell queue according to a preset proportionthreshold a and according to a sorting sequence as the to-be-processedneighboring cells, where K_(i)=a×M_(i), K_(i) indicates a quantity ofneighboring cells selected from an i^(th) neighboring cell queue, M_(i)indicates a quantity of neighboring cells included in the i^(th)neighboring cell queue, and i is an integer greater than or equal to 1,and less than or equal to 3.

Further, the optimization suggestion generating module 620 isspecifically configured to generate an optimization suggestion accordingto a handover success rate of handovers to a neighboring cell of theK_(i) neighboring cells.

Further, the optimization suggestion generating module 620 isspecifically configured to: if a handover success rate of handovers to afirst neighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboring cells is greater than orequal to a preset high threshold for a handover success rate, generatean optimization suggestion of increasing a priority of the firstneighboring cell by one level; if a handover success rate of handoversto a second neighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboring cells is less thanthe high threshold for a handover success rate, and greater than a lowthreshold for a handover success rate, generate an optimizationsuggestion of remaining a priority of the second neighboring cellunchanged; and if a handover success rate of handovers to a thirdneighboring cell of the K_(i) neighboring cells is less than or equal tothe low threshold for a handover success rate, generate an optimizationsuggestion of lowering a priority of the third neighboring cell by onelevel.

Further, the determining module 610 is further configured to: after theoptimization suggestion is delivered to the radio network controllerRNC, add one to a sixth count value, where the sixth count value is usedto describe a quantity of times of delivering the optimizationsuggestion to the RNC, and determine whether a sixth count value towhich one is added is less than a preset quantity of neighboring cellpriority optimization times; and if it is determined that the sixthcount value to which one is added is less than the quantity ofneighboring cell priority optimization times, repeatedly perform thestep of determining whether a fifth count value reaches a presetneighboring cell priority optimization period.

Optionally, the determining module 610 is further configured to: beforedetermining the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to thepreset rule, determine whether a seventh count value reaches a presetneighbor relation optimization detection period; and if it is determinedthat the seventh count value reaches the neighbor relation optimizationdetection period, determine an eNodeB that includes an LTE cell and thatis within a range of a circle with a center being a UMTS cell whoseneighbor relation needs to be optimized and with a radius being a presetdistance, or determine the eNodeB that includes the LTE cell and aneNodeB that includes a configured LTE neighboring cell of the UMTS cellwhose neighbor relation needs to be optimized.

Further, the determining module 610 is specifically configured to:acquire a first potential LTE neighboring cell of the UMTS cell whoseneighbor relation needs to be optimized and a measurement report of thefirst potential LTE neighboring cell; acquire a second potential LTEneighboring cell after LTE cells that cannot be added or deleted areremoved from the first potential LTE neighboring cell; and sort cells ofthe second potential LTE neighboring cell according to a handoversuccess rate, a quantity of handover request times, or a quantity ofmeasurement reports of the second potential LTE neighboring cell, anddetermine, according to a preset maximum quantity of added neighboringcells, N cells that rank ahead as the to-be-processed neighboring cells,where N is equal to a difference between the maximum quantity of addedneighboring cells and a quantity of LTE cells that cannot be deleted.The first potential LTE neighboring cell is acquired according tomeasurement that is performed by the eNodeB that includes the LTE cellon the UMTS cell in a neighbor relation list of the LTE cell.Alternatively, the first potential LTE neighboring cell is acquiredaccording to measurement that is performed by the eNodeB that includesthe LTE cell on the UMTS cell in a neighbor relation list of the LTEcell and measurement that is performed by the eNodeB that includes theLTE neighboring cell on the UMTS cell in a neighbor relation list of theLTE neighboring cell.

Further, the optimization suggestion generating module 620 isspecifically configured to acquire cell identification information ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells and configuration parameters ofthe to-be-processed neighboring cells; and generate an optimizationsuggestion of optimizing a neighbor relation according to the cellidentification information of the to-be-processed neighboring cells andthe configuration parameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cells,where the optimization suggestion of optimizing the neighbor relation isused to instruct the RNC to add the to-be-processed neighboring cells toa neighboring cell list of the UMTS cell whose neighbor relation needsto be optimized.

Further, the determining module 610 is further configured to: after theoptimization suggestion is delivered to the radio network controllerRNC, add one to an eighth count value, where the eighth count value isused to describe a quantity of times of delivering the optimizationsuggestion of optimizing the neighbor relation to the RNC, and determinewhether an eighth count value to which one is added is less than apreset quantity of neighbor relation optimization execution times; andif it is determined that the eighth count value to which one is added isless than the quantity of neighbor relation optimization executiontimes, repeatedly perform the step of determining whether a seventhcount value reaches a preset neighbor relation optimization detectionperiod.

According to the apparatus for optimizing a neighbor relation providedin this embodiment, a centralized device determines to-be-processedneighboring cells according to a preset rule, generates an optimizationsuggestion according to the determined to-be-processed neighboringcells, and delivers the optimization suggestion to an RNC, so that theRNC optimizes the to-be-processed neighboring cells according to theoptimization suggestion. As a result, automatic optimization of theneighbor relation is implemented.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or some ofthe steps of the method embodiments may be implemented by a programinstructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium. When the program runs, the steps ofthe method embodiments are performed. The foregoing storage mediumincludes: any medium that can store program code, such as a ROM, a RAM,a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merelyintended for describing the technical solutions of the presentinvention, but not for limiting the present invention. Although thepresent invention is described in detail with reference to the foregoingembodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand thatthey may still make modifications to the technical solutions describedin the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent replacements to some orall technical features thereof, without departing from the scope of thetechnical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: obtaining, by a device, afirst missing neighboring cell list from a base station; determining, bythe device, a to-be-processed neighboring cell based on a first distancebetween a cell in the first missing neighboring cell list and a servingcell; and delivering, by the device, an adding instruction to the basestation, wherein the adding instruction instructs the base station toadd the to-be-processed neighboring cell to a neighboring cell list ofthe serving cell.
 2. The method according to claim 1, the method furthercomprises: obtaining, by the device, a measurement report based onmeasurement performed on a to-be-measured cell by a user equipment (UE)from the base station, wherein the UE is in a coverage area of theserving cell, and the to-be-measured cell comprises an intra-frequencycell of the serving cell, an inter-frequency cell of the serving cell ora inter radio access technology (RAT) cell of the serving cell; whereinthe first missing neighboring cell list comprises a cell that isselected from the to-be-measured cell according to the measurementreport and that is not in the neighboring cell list of the serving cell.3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining theto-be-processed neighboring cell comprises: determining, by the device,a to-be-sorted cell in the first missing neighboring cell list;obtaining, by the device, a second missing neighboring cell list bysorting the to-be-sorted cell according to a second distance betweento-be-sorted cell and the serving cell; and determining, by the device,the to-be-processed neighboring cell by selecting from the secondmissing neighboring cell list according to a preset maximum quantity ofneighboring cells of the serving cell.
 4. The method according to claim3, wherein the second distance is less than or equal than a threshold.5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining theto-be-processed neighboring cell further comprises: obtaining, by thedevice, the second missing neighboring cell, by removing a cell in ablacklist after the sorting.
 6. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe method further comprises: obtaining, by the device, cellidentification information of the to-be-processed neighboring cell andconfiguration parameters of the to-be-processed neighboring cell.
 7. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the method is performed when acount value reaches a detection period.
 8. A device comprising: aprocessor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupledto the processor and storing programming instructions for execution bythe processor, the programming instructions instruct the processor to:obtain a first missing neighboring cell list from a base station;determine a to-be-processed neighboring cell based on a first distancebetween a cell in the first missing neighboring cell list and a servingcell; and deliver an adding instruction to the base station, wherein theadding instruction instructs the base station to add the to-be-processedneighboring cell to a neighboring cell list of the serving cell.
 9. Thedevice according to claim 8, wherein the programming instructionsfurther instruct the processor to: obtain a measurement report based onmeasurement performed on a to-be-measured cell by a user equipment (UE)from the base station, wherein the UE is in a coverage area of theserving cell, and the to-be-measured cell comprises an intra-frequencycell of the serving cell, an inter-frequency cell of the serving cell oran inter radio access technology (RAT) cell of the serving cell; whereinthe first missing neighboring cell list comprises a cell that isselected from the to-be-measured cell according to the measurementreport and that is not in the neighboring cell list of the serving cell.10. The device according to claim 9, wherein the programminginstructions instructing the processor to determine the to-be-processedneighboring cell comprises: determine a to-be-sorted cell in the firstmissing neighboring cell list; obtain a second missing neighboring celllist by sorting the to-be-sorted cell according to a second distancebetween to-be-sorted cell and the serving cell; and determine theto-be-processed neighboring cell by selecting from the second missingneighboring cell list according to a preset maximum quantity ofneighboring cells of the serving cell.
 11. The device according to claim10, wherein the second distance is less than or equal than a threshold.12. The device according to claim 10, wherein the programminginstructions instructing the processor to determine the to-be-processedneighboring cell comprises: obtain the second missing neighboring cell,by removing a cell in a blacklist after the sorting.
 13. The deviceaccording to claim 8, wherein the programming instructions furtherinstruct the processor to: obtain cell identification information of theto-be-processed neighboring cell and configuration parameters of theto-be-processed neighboring cell.
 14. The device according to claim 8,wherein the programming instructions is performed when a count valuereaches a detection period.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing computer executable instructions, wherein the computerexecutable instructions comprise instructions for: obtaining a firstmissing neighboring cell list from a base station; determining ato-be-processed neighboring cell based on a first distance between acell in the first missing neighboring cell list and a serving cell; anddelivering an adding instruction to the base station, wherein the addinginstruction instructs the base station to add the to-be-processedneighboring cell to a neighboring cell list of the serving cell.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 15, whereinthe instructions further comprises: obtaining a measurement report basedon measurement performed on a to-be-measured cell by a user equipment(UE) from the base station, wherein the UE is in a coverage area of theserving cell, and the to-be-measured cell comprises an intra-frequencycell of the serving cell, an inter-frequency cell of the serving cell oran inter radio access technology (RAT) cell of the serving cell; whereinthe first missing neighboring cell list comprises a cell that isselected from the to-be-measured cell according to the measurementreport and that is not in the neighboring cell list of the serving cell.17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 16,wherein the instructions for determining a to-be-processed neighboringcell comprise instructions for: determining a to-be-sorted cell in thefirst missing neighboring cell list; obtaining a second missingneighboring cell list by sorting the to-be-sorted cell according to asecond distance between to-be-sorted cell and the serving cell; anddetermining the to-be-processed neighboring cell by selecting from thesecond missing neighboring cell list according to a preset maximumquantity of neighboring cells of the serving cell.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 17, whereinthe second distance between the to-be-sorted cell is less than or equalthan a threshold.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 17, wherein the instructions for determining ato-be-processed neighboring cell comprise instructions for: obtainingthe second missing neighboring cell, by removing a cell in a blacklistafter the sorting.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 15, wherein the instructions further comprises:obtaining cell identification information of the to-be-processedneighboring cell and configuration parameters of the to-be-processedneighboring cell.